


Christmas for the Cat

by hermionemonica



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Also contains minor spoilers for Netflix's The Knight Before Christmas, Also the Gorilla is a sweetheart, Christmas, Established Relationship, F/M, Holidays, Lots of love and warmth, Marichat, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, adrienette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21950947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermionemonica/pseuds/hermionemonica
Summary: This year, Adrien is going to spend Christmas with the best people in his life. And it will be the best Christmas he has ever had.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain
Comments: 7
Kudos: 79





	Christmas for the Cat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [runningash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningash/gifts), [clslovegood47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clslovegood47/gifts), [lalunaoscura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalunaoscura/gifts).



> Happy Christmas!  
> Take this fluffy little holiday fic from someone who has no idea how Christmas works... but I tried, okay? Also, please forgive me if it's too clustered, I tried to fit all the goodness in 6k words lol. And... enjoy!

_My Lady: Did your father agree?_  
_My Prince: Took a bit of persuasion, but he finally gave in._  
_My Prince: I'M COMING TONIGHT!_  
_My Lady: Oh that’s such a relief. And I'm so excited!_  
_My Prince: Me too! Can't wait to see you!_  
_My Lady: Me neither._

  
Adrien flopped onto his bed. This year, he was going to spend Christmas with the best people in his life. 

“Ugh, that lovey-dovey grin is back on your face,” snickered Plagg. 

Adrien turned his head to look his kwami right in the eye. “Are you telling me that you aren't eager to meet your _sugarcube_ tonight?” 

It was impossible to miss the purplish colour that came over the kwami’s cheeks as he spun the other way round. “At least I'm not being a sappy kitten like you.” 

Adrien laughed as he sat up in his bed. “Hey, Plagg.” 

“What?” he replied in an annoyed hiss. 

“Happy Christmas.”

Plagg turned around with an almost-smile on his face. He floated over to Adrien and hugged his chest. “Happy Christmas to you too Adrien,” he purred. 

Adrien skipped with happiness as he made his way down the stairs. At the doorway, he was stopped by Nathalie. 

“Mr Agreste wishes to know if you have finished all your work for the day,” she spoke in her stoic, business-like voice. 

“Yes Nathalie,” Adrien sighed, “You may tell him that I have.” 

She looked up from her tablet as she assumed a less formal stance, although her face remained as emotionless as ever. “You know your father is not proud of your behaviour.” 

“Let's be honest Nathalie,” Adrien said with a Chat-esque drawl in his voice, “Father will never be proud of me, no matter how much I try. And this time, I am not even breaking any rules. Also, not that it matters to him, but I'd much rather spend Christmas with people who actually show their love for each other. Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I have somewhere to be.” 

Saying so, Adrien made his way out of the doors of the mansion, towards where his bodyguard waited for him in the car. He opened the car door for himself and stepped inside. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw that the Gorilla shot him a warm look in the rear-view mirror. 

It didn't take long for them to reach the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Before entering, Adrien peeked through the glass door to see if Marinette was in the bakery, and luckily she was. She was working at the counter with her back to the door, and she was alone. Stealthy as a cat, Adrien let himself in. 

“Surprise!” Adrien shouted as he pounced upon Marinette and wrapped her in a hug from behind. 

“Whoa!” she exclaimed as she slightly leaned forwards under Adrien's weight. “I can never understand how you manage to get in without making a sound, not even ringing the bell on the door!” 

“It’s the cat's secret m’ lady,” he whispered, nuzzling into the crook of her neck. 

“Hello Marinette,” Plagg zoomed out of Adrien's pocket and greeted her with a little bow. He was always extra courteous in front of Marinette, and Adrien still couldn't decipher why. 

“Nice to see you again Plagg,” Marinette greeted back. “Tikki is in my room upstairs, maybe you'd like to join her there?” 

“I think I'd rather stay away from both of you for now,” he shot a snide look at Adrien. 

“Just admit that you want to spend time with Tikki,” Adrien hissed, at which Plagg snickered and phased through the ceiling. 

Marinette turned her attention back to the boy who was still draped around her. “I didn't know you were going to be here so early,” she said with a giggle. “Nobody else is here yet.” 

“I missed you,” he breathed in her ear, making her erupt into a fit of giggles. 

“So,” Marinette turned around in Adrien's arms, “as you can see, I'm working right now. What are you going to do till I'm done?” 

“What are you making?” Adrien asked, trying to get a peek at the counter behind her. 

“Cookies. Dad already made macaroons and croissants for all of us, but I thought cookies would be nice.” 

“Can I help?” Adrien asked with the excitement of a five-year-old. 

Marinette reached up and ruffled his hair affectionately. “Do you even know how to make cookies?” 

“You can teach me!” he straightened up and placed a hand over his heart. “I assure you, I am a very fast learner!” 

Adrien's excitement was so adorable that Marinette could not refuse him. Besides, it would be fun, right? 

“Alright, let's do it,” she said. “I've already prepared the dough, so what is left is to shape the cookies, decorate them, and of course bake them. I am going to start off with a section of the dough, and roll it like-" 

“Princess,” Adrien interrupted. 

“Yes?” 

“Can you show me, please?” 

Marinette laughed a little. Of course, she was just giving him verbal instructions, and it must be difficult to understand for someone who had never done this before. “Okay, so I take a section of the dough like this,” she tore off a bit from the dough, and Adrien did the same, “and then I roll it with- hold on,” she walked over to the shelf under the sink where there was an assortment of items. Rummaging a little through them, she found what she was looking for. “Here,” she said, handing it to him, “you can have this smaller rolling pin. This used to be mine when I was younger and could not handle the bigger one. I figured since this is your first time, you might be more at ease with this.” 

Adrien’s eyes twinkled with excitement. “Aww, it's pink!” 

“What else did you expect, kitty?” Marinette giggled. 

Marinette picked up her own rolling pin and rolled out her piece of the dough. “See?” 

“Oh that's easy, I can do it!” Adrien exclaimed as he enthusiastically picked up his rolling pin. But of course, it wasn't as easy as it looked; he ended up with an unevenly rolled out base. “Help?” he turned to Marinette with kitten eyes. 

“You're doing pretty good,” she stepped over to stand near him and rolled the dough back into a ball. “Only you need to even out the pressure. Like so,” she placed her hands on top of his and guided him into rolling out the ball evenly. 

But Adrien's mind was elsewhere. Marinette was standing so close to him, and she was smelling so wonderful that Adrien could not resist himself. He closed his eyes and took a long whiff out of her hair. 

“Are you sniffing me again?” Adrien opened his eyes to find Marinette looking at him with narrowed eyes and a smirk. It made Adrien nervous and he stuttered, “M-maybe?” 

“Aww kitty,” Marinette cooed, and then reached up to plant a kiss on the tip of his nose, making him all the more flustered. 

“Th-that's not fair!” 

“But you are so cute, my love!” 

“Oh, is that so?” Adrien said in a challenging voice, with a cocked eyebrow. Marinette gulped; that was the tone he used before he used unfair means to tackle her. “Well, the cookies aren't going to make themselves,” she announced in an attempt to divert the conversation. Fortunately, Adrien was too excited at the moment and he fell for it, and Marinette secretly breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Now comes the most exciting part, cutting the cookies into shapes,” Marinette declared, bringing out a drawer of cookie-cutters. 

“There are so many shapes!” 

“Of course! Take your pick: there is a star, a heart, even a-" 

“Can I use all of them?” Adrien asked with childish delight. 

Marinette smiled. “Just as I expected. But be careful! The edges are pretty sharp, don’t hurt yourself.” 

Adrien was careful. After the cookies were cut out, Marinette arranged them on the tray and placed them inside the oven. 

“Now we wait?” Adrien asked. 

“Yes, but not idle waiting,” Marinette replied. “We have like ten minutes till the cookies are baked, and in that time, we are going to prepare the icing.” 

Saying so, Marinette moved around the kitchen to pick up ingredients. She mixed them all in a bowl to make a glossy, creamy mixture. 

“Wow.” 

Marinette started at his voice. She had been too focused on her work for a while to notice Adrien's movements. And now he was crouching on the floor next to her, peeking over the counter to see what she was doing. 

Marinette laughed out loud. “Can you stop being a cat even for once?” 

“But... I am a cat,” Adrien pushed his nose into Marinette's belly. 

“Stop, you're tickling me!” Marinette cried between laughs, and Adrien finally stood up. He knew Marinette was extremely ticklish, so he wasn't surprised that she took a while to recover from her fit of giggles. Once she did though, she immediately switched back into her instructor persona. 

“Now you may choose your colours,” she explained, pointing to the small bottles of food colour kept on the side. “And depending on how many colours, we are going to divide the icing into parts.” 

“I need...” Adrien counted off the colours on his hands, and winked at Marinette, obviously proud of himself. 

“Of course,” Marinette smiled. 

Just then the oven timer chimed. “There,” Marinette exclaimed, “the cookies are baked. I'm going to take them out of the oven now,” she said, putting on her oven-mitts, “and let them cool for a while.” Carefully, she took the tray of cookies out from the oven and placed them on the counter. “Meanwhile, we are going to finish up preparing the icing.” 

In a few minutes, the icing was ready and put into piping bags. Adrien insisted that he would decorate his cookies without Marinette's help, so she let him. She watched with a grin on her face, as Adrien scrunched up his face in concentration, trying to keep his icing from running off the edges of the cookie. While Adrien was thus occupied, Marinette turned around to work on a secret. 

When Adrien was done, he called Marinette over to see his handiwork. While it wasn't perfect, Marinette had to say that it was great work for someone who had never done it before. “I'm so proud of you Adrien,” Marinette praised her boyfriend. 

But when she looked up from the cookies, she could not hold back her laughter. Because Adrien’s face was splashed with icing. When he saw her laughing, he pouted in annoyance. But she looked so beautiful, so happy and carefree, that he could not stay mad at her too long. Very soon, he was laughing too, even though he had no idea what they were laughing about. 

When Marinette recovered enough to get meaningful words out, she threw a towel at Adrien's face. “Wipe yourself, you dork,” she teased. 

Adrien rubbed the towel on his face. When he removed it, he flashed a Chat Noir grin, and asked, “Is it okay now?” 

Marinette furrowed up her brows, examining his face with interest. “You have something just there,” she pointed out, touching the area beside his lips. Adrien mirrored her hand and rubbed at his face. “Gone?” 

“Hold on,” Marinette said. And then she placed a hand on his cheek, stood up on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss just on the side of his lips. When she drew back, she saw Adrien's cheeks were red and his mouth was gaping open. “I think it was just me,” Marinette winked. 

“You little-" Adrien pretended to get angry, and then he leaned down and crashed his lips into hers, pulling her in close. Marinette smiled against his lips. The kiss was more flirty than passionate, and they broke off after a few seconds. 

“You know, there's still some time before Alya and Nino are supposed to arrive,” Marinette whispered, pressed up against Adrien's chest. 

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Adrien asked. 

“Ultimate Mecha Strike!” they both shouted at the same time, and then dashed to the drawing-room. 

Marinette's parents were relaxing on the couch. “Oh Adrien, sweetie, we thought we heard you,” Sabine smiled warmly at him. 

“I was wondering where you both had gone off to,” Marinette commented, as she walked over to the shelves to bring to controllers. 

Tom fidgeted and said in a very fake-cool manner, “Oh yes, we were totally not staying away to give you kids privacy-” 

“Honey!” Sabine shushed her husband. 

Adrien nervously rubbed the back of his neck and Marinette suddenly seemed to find her feet very interesting subjects to stare at. 

“I'll bring you kids something to uhh, drink, okay?” Sabine pulled her husband along with her outside the room. 

“I-I'm sorry,” Marinette mumbled. “You know my parents can be a little overbearing at times, and even,” she whispered the last bit, “inappropriate.” 

“Please don't apologise!” Adrien objected. “I love your parents! And besides, I can't blame them for staying away, can I?” he brought his face real close to Marinette's. 

For a moment, a blush spread over her cheeks, but she quickly got over it and pushed Adrien's face away gently but firmly. “Whatever,” she rolled her eyes. 

“Let's start the match, shall we bugaboo?” Adrien intentionally used that nickname to annoy her. 

“I'm going to demolish you, you stray kitten!” she roared in response. 

At the end of an intense gaming session, Marinette was dominating by a margin of 7 wins to Adrien’s 5. She threw down the controller with a victorious flourish,

“Congratulations model boy, your girlfriend is still the champion.” 

“Well, at least I suck less now,” Adrien pouted. 

Marinette kissed his forehead. “That you do. But you know you still have a long way to go if you want to be the better gamer in front of our kids.” 

Adrien's eyes widened, and it was only then that she realised what she had said. She buried her face in her hands in order to conceal the raging blush that came over her cheeks. 

“Did you just say ‘our kids', Marinette?” 

Marinette refused to answer. 

Adrien gently moved her hands away from her face. “Hey, what’s wrong?” 

“I'm so embarrassed.” 

“Oh Princess, it's not embarrassing! Trust me, I think it makes me love you even more, if that's possible.” 

“What?” Marinette looked as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. 

“I can't believe someone, least of all someone so perfect as you, would think of having a future with me.” Adrien murmured. 

“Oh kitty,” Marinette wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. “I have dreamt of having a future with you since I met you!” 

“Really?” 

“Mm-hm.” 

They probably would have loved to continue that conversation, but Sabine entered the room. “Adrien, I have something for you!” 

At the sound of her voice, both of them sprang up and slid to the opposite sides of the couch. But the movement was obviously not unnoticed by Sabine, who suppressed a giggle at how adorable the kids were. 

She walked over to them, holding a bag in her hand. “Here,” she extended the bag towards Adrien, “this is for you.” 

Adrien opened the bag with childlike wonder, and gasped when he saw what was inside. 

“A sweater!” he exclaimed. 

“Take it out,” Sabine urged. 

Adrien did so, and unfolded it. He smiled because it was in his favourite shade of blue; only a few people cared to know that his favourite colour was indeed blue, not green.

And then he turned it around. The grin on his face only became wider as he saw the embroidery on it. 

_‘Crust me, I'm on a roll’_ it read. 

“It's a pun!” he gasped. 

“Since you are now a part of our family now,” Sabine went on, “I figured that you should own one of the special Dupain-Cheng Christmas sweaters.” 

“I love it!” Adrien cried, as he enfolded the small woman in a bear hug. Sabine smiled and gently patted his back. 

“Can I put it on now?” he asked when he let go. 

“Of course you can, dear,” Sabine said sweetly. 

Adrien didn't need to be told twice. He pulled the oversized garment over his head and slipped into it. “Oh it's so warm and soft!” he said excitedly, wrapping his arms around himself, “I’m never taking it off again.” 

Marinette and Sabine shared a look. They both loved this precious boy with all their hearts. 

Just then, they heard Alya announce from the bakery “We are here!” 

Adrien peeked from behind the door. “I got here before you!” 

“I thought we came early,” Alya complained. 

“He came way before time,” Marinette intervened, appearing through the door. 

“Sick sweater, dude!” Nino commented when he saw it. 

“I know, right?” Adrien bragged. 

Greetings were exchanged and gifts were passed. Both Nino and Adrien were extremely eager to open their gifts, but their girlfriends would not let them. Also, neither would Tom and Sabine. 

“Only after dinner,” they said. 

At the sound of dinner, Nino's stomach rumbled. Embarrassed, he tried to cover it up, but Sabine obviously noticed. She was not going to have any hungry bellies in her house.

“Since there’s still time before dinner, why don't you children help yourself to some snacks?” she suggested. 

“I'll get them,” Marinette stood up. 

“I'll help you, sweetie,” Sabine offered. 

“And when you come back, can we watch a Christmas movie?” Adrien asked. 

“Sure,” she smiled. 

It didn't take them more than a few minutes, but when they came back into the room, carrying a myriad number of boxes and plates, Alya had already connected her phone to the TV, and a movie was paused on the screen. “There you are!” said Nino, “Come on dudette, we were only waiting for you!”   
Her mother put the things down on the table, kissed each of the kids in turn, and left. Marinette walked over to the couch and squeezed in between Alya and Adrien. “So, what are we watching?” 

“The Knight Before Christmas,” Alya said. “I have heard people say that it's cute.” 

“Okay then,” Marinette declared. “But before we get started, I want you guys to see this.” Saying so, she opened up the box she was holding. 

It contained a batch of cookies in a variety of shapes. “Cute!” Alya exclaimed. 

“Guess who made these?” Marinette questioned. 

Alya and Nino tried to think, and then they spoke up at the same time. 

“Oh!” 

“Damn!” 

They turned to where Adrien was covering the blush on his face with his hands. “Dude!” Nino punched his shoulder playfully. “These are awesome!” 

“I agree,” Alya chimed in. “I think these are adorable.” 

Adrien looked at Marinette, who was giving him a look that said, _told you they're great._

After they had praised him till he was as red as the heart cookies, Marinette finally decided to rescue him. “Let's start the movie, shall we?” she said, taking up the remote. 

When the movie started playing, Marinette leaned against Adrien’s chest and he wrapped his arms around her. Nino and Alya never minded them cuddling, and this position was actually very comfortable. And the closeness allowed them to whisper-talk to each other without disrupting the movie. 

Barely ten minutes into the movie, Marinette felt Adrien’s arms tighten around her, and she knew what it was about. He whispered frantically, “He called her m’ lady! Did you see that?” 

“I did, Adrien,” she replied with a smile. Her boyfriend was so cute. 

A few minutes later, it was Marinette who was whispering. “Did you see how he got down on his knees and kissed her hand? That reminds me of the first time you met me as Chat.” 

“During Evillustrator, right?” Adrien responded. “Well, I can assure you this is when she's going to fall for him; that move has never failed.” 

“Really?” 

“Admit it, Princess, hadn't you felt blown away when I had done that?” 

“Let's watch the movie, shall we?” Marinette put a stop to the conversation. She would rather not admit to her dork of a boyfriend that it had made her heart skip a beat when he had done that, for if he knew then he would never let her live that down. 

The rest of the movie passed by with them constantly whispering to each other. Because as it turned out, they found a number of similarities between the couple in the movie and themselves. 

Marinette heard Adrien sobbing towards the end, but she was not surprised. Her boyfriend was a hopeless romantic, and she knew he easily cried at emotional scenes. She chose not to look at him and embarrass him when he was at his weak moment. So she just wrapped her arms closer around his, and let him hold on to her for comfort. 

When the credits started playing, the four of them leaned back against the couch (or in Marinette's case, against her boyfriend's chest). 

“That was a really beautiful movie Alya,” Marinette commented. 

“You think?” Alya retorted. “I was beginning to doubt you guys were even watching with all the constant whispering.” 

“I beg your pardon, Lady Alya,” Adrien joined in with a little bow, “but I can assure you that myself and my lady love here were not neglectful of the magic box at all.” 

“Alright I got it,” Alya rolled her eyes. 

“Must you always be so extra?” Marinette turned to Adrien with a cocked eyebrow. 

“I'm afraid so, m’ lady,” he brought her hand to his lips and reverently kissed it. 

“Look what you did Alya!” Marinette complained. “You have created a monster!” 

“I don't see any difference,” Nino shrugged and left the room, Alya with him. 

“Okay my knight, here's an offer,” Marinette turned to face Adrien and placed her hands on his chest, “I am going to scratch your belly for five minutes if you stop this obnoxious act right now.” 

“Make it ten, and I might consider.” 

“Fine.” 

“Deal!” 

“Where are you, kids?” Tom called out. “Dinner is served, you wouldn't want the sauce to get cold now!” 

At that call Adrien rushed over to the dining room, pulling Marinette along by her hand. 

The table was set with so many foods that looked and smelled delicious. The Dupain-Chengs had gone the extra mile to place seat markers on the plates in order to indicate where each one of them was supposed to sit. Tom was to sit at the head of the table, with Marinette and Alya at his two sides, who in turn had Adrien and Nino at their sides and Sabine was to be seated at the other end of the table. The kids took their respective seats, visibly excited. Before starting on the food, they all joined their hands across the table to say Grace. 

When they were done, they heard sniffling. They opened their eyes to see that Adrien was silently weeping. 

“Oh no, what happened love?” Marinette asked. 

“I'm sorry. Please don't worry about me,” Adrien quickly wiped at his cheeks, “I am just overwhelmed. It has been so long since we have had an actual Christmas dinner at my house, and even then it never used to be so cheery.” 

“Poor boy,” Sabine took his hand in both of her. “You know you are always welcome to dine with us.” 

“And not just dine,” Tom interrupted, “but you can come over anytime! Be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or even for the occasional snack!” 

“You have got us now,” Sabine gently patted Adrien's hand. “So you'll always have a family, son.” 

The kindness of her words were more than what Adrien could take. He wrapped his arms around her, “Thank you, thank you so much.” 

“There there now, my boy,” Tom tried to lighten the mood, “We wouldn’t want to shed tears over good, would we?” 

“Of course not!” Adrien exclaimed, as he picked up his fork and knife. The others followed suit. 

The food was delicious and everyone asked for a second helping. And even after that, Sabine insisted on serving around a third helping because “No restrictions on Christmas food!” It was a cheerful dinner, with a variety of jokes and conversation to go with the food. Nino had struck up an interesting conversation with Sabine about Chinese music, Adrien and Tom had a blast discussing puns and Alya and Marinette were discussing Alya's latest blog about family traditions. 

After dinner, Tom brought in the dessert. It was a delicious looking chocolate cake, and although everyone was full, who could ever say no to a Dupain-Cheng beauty like that? Sabine cut out generous slices for everyone, and they carried their plates to the living room where all the presents were kept. 

Although neither of the gifts said who it was from, as was tradition, it wasn't hard to tell. Other than individual gifts, both of the young couples got special presents from Tom and Sabine.

At the very end, Marinette excused herself and Adrien for a moment. She pulled him outside the room. 

“I have a secret gift for you,” Marinette whispered. 

Adrien looked like a little kitten on hearing her words. Marinette just wanted to pull his cheeks and squish his face because God, he is so adorable! 

She reached into her pocket and took out a little bag. “Open it,” she urged. 

Adrien did so, and he almost screamed. Because in his hand, he held two cookies. Two very special cookies. Because it was Ladybug and Chat Noir, complete with the details. 

“I-It's us!” he spoke in a shaky voice. 

“Yes.” 

“I'm never going to eat them, they're so beautiful!” 

“I'm glad you like them,” Marinette spoke softly, “but there's more.” 

“More?” Adrien asked, confused. 

“Look up,” Marinette pointed. 

Adrien did so, and he saw that a mistletoe was hung right above their heads. He looked back at Marinette and saw that she was looking at him with affection. 

“Happy Christmas, Adrien.” 

“Happy Christmas, Marinette.” Saying so, he took Marinette in his arms in one swift motion and pressed his lips to hers. Marinette lost no time in returning the kiss. She wove her fingers through his hair and pulled him in close to deepen the kiss. And as for Adrien, no matter how many times they had kissed, he could never get enough of her. 

They finally let go when they ran out of breath.

When they returned back into the room, Alya and Nino were already preparing to leave. “It's getting late,” they said. 

Marinette and Adrien looked at the clock. It was already past 9, which meant Adrien had to leave too. “I'll call Plagg,” she whispered to him before running upstairs. 

She came back very soon, and Adrien realized Plagg was hidden in her hair. Good night wishes were passed around, and when Marinette went to kiss Adrien goodbye, Plagg slipped back into his pocket. 

She whispered in his ear, “You're coming later tonight, right?” 

“Of course I am, Princess,” Adrien whispered back. 

When Adrien was getting into the car, his bodyguard stopped him and handed him a neatly wrapped package. Curious, Adrien opened it and gasped. 

Inside it was a framed painting of himself. And it was magnificent, from the accuracy to the details, everything. And the best part was that in it he was smiling his real smile: the one that came on his face when he was actually happy. Over the years, he had done so many modeling shoots and he had grown used to seeing his photographs everywhere. But this was something different, because someone had taken the time to draw him, someone had put in the effort. And that made his eyes fill up with tears. 

“Did you- did you make this for me?” he asked, looking up at the Gorilla. 

“Hmm,” he nodded, without looking at him. But his eyes widened in surprise when little arms wrapped around his body. He looked down to see that Adrien was hugging him.

This precious sunshine boy, whom he had grown to think of as his own child, was embracing him as hard as he could. And that made him throw all reservations to the winds. He knelt down beside Adrien, and hugged him back. 

“I love you kid.” Adrien barely heard a gruff voice whisper, but the emotion was clear. “I love you too,” he replied, wrapping his arms around his neck even tighter. 

When Adrien opened the doors to his mansion, a cold draught blew at him. The house was deathly silent. Neither Nathalie or his father was waiting for him. He shrugged, he wasn't even expecting them to. Turning to look at his bodyguard one last time, he said, “Good night.” The big man responded with a nod and a little smile. 

Adrien sped up the stairs and ran into his room. This had probably been the best Christmas he had ever had. 

Plagg zoomed out of his pocket as Adrien sat down on his bed. “I guess we should take a nap before we head over later?” Plagg suggested. 

“I'm running too high on adrenaline right now,” Adrien admitted. “I don't think I'll be able to sleep.” 

“Well, suit yourself,” Plagg mewed before heading over to his pillow. Adrien gently patted the top of his head. Then he walked over to his window and looked outside. He couldn't wait to see Marinette again, especially since she had mentioned that she had something special to show him. 

He took his phone out of his pocket to see that he had a thread of unreceived messages from Marinette, which she had sent about ten minutes ago; he must have missed the alert when he was in the car. 

Marinette had sent him some pictures. Nine, actually, to be exact. They were taking a while to load, so he read the message underneath them. _“Dad took these!”_ it read. 

When the pictures finally loaded, Adrien was grinning from ear to ear. Because it was them in the bakery! Looked like Tom had sneaked quite a number of clicks while they were not looking. 

_“I'll cherish these memories of my first baking session with you, forever. I am indebted to your dad for infinity!”_ he sent the reply. 

He would indeed cherish them as long as he lived. He took his time to savour every detail in each photograph. Over the years of modeling for his father's brand, he had realised that the best photographs were the ones that were taken without your knowledge. Like behind-the-scenes shots, candids... and photos like this. 

He spent the rest of the time looking at those photographs, and very soon the clock downstairs chimed 11. He walked over to the bed and woke Plagg up. “Hey, it's time to go!” he whispered. 

“Already?” Plagg opened one eye. “But I was just starting on the seventh slice!” 

“Come on little guy, you can have your cheese later on!” Adrien urged. 

“You know right, that the only reason I agreed to do this in the middle of the night is because your girlfriend has the best cheese?” 

“No,” Adrien narrowed his eyes. “You're doing this because you're a hard-core Marichat stan.” 

“Well that too,” Plagg shrugged as he flew over, “but the cheese is more valid.” 

Adrien laughed. “Plagg, claws out!” 

A few minutes later, Marinette heard a rap on her window and looked up to see the masked face of her boyfriend grinning at her. “Come on in, the door's open!”   
Chat Noir pounced through the open trapdoor onto Marinette's bed. “Hello Princess, miss me?” 

“I did, actually,” she climbed up the ladder to her bed. 

“Where's my surprise?” he caught her in her arms as soon as she was close enough. 

“Oh?” she asked in a teasing voice. “Are you that impatient to get away?” 

Chat immediately loosened his hold. “I'm so sorry!” he blurted out, all flustered. “I didn’t mean it that way!” 

“Relax! I was only kidding!” Marinette turned around and seated herself in his lap. She cupped his face in her hands and said, “I know how much you love spending time with me.” 

Marinette leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek. “But I would prefer that you are not out in the cold too late tonight, so let's go.” 

“Where?” 

“To the terrace,” she spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, “that's where the surprise is.” 

She urged him to climb up before her. “Keep your eyes closed when you get up there, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

“Are you ready?” 

“Wait,” Chat whispered at her, “why are you still down there?” 

“Shh, my kitty.” 

A few silent seconds passed, and Adrien caught a click over the nightly sounds. 

“You may open your eyes now.” He heard Marinette's voice just beside him. 

When he opened his eyes he cupped his mouth with his hands. Because the sight that he saw in front of him was breath-taking. 

Marinette had decorated her entire terrace with fairy lights that twinkled against the darkness. He walked out to the edge of the balcony, and spun around, taking the whole of the sight. 

“You missed this here,” Marinette called his attention to the wall beside the bonsai plant. 

Chat slowly walked over. The fairy lights illuminated the wall and Chat saw that there were photographs. Of them. Selfies, candids, photos taken by their friends and family, prints from that one time Marinette modeled with Adrien, and even a couple of paparazzi photos that had turned out really nice. She had hung them all together by clothes-pegs from the wire of the lights. Looking through the photographs, it was almost like reliving through each of the moments. And to think that these moments mattered equally to her that she took the time to put them together, it made him feel so loved. 

Chat slowly turned his head to look at Marinette. She was already looking at him, love brimming in her expression. The dim light lit up one side of her face. Adrien never knew she could look more beautiful than she already was, but here she was, looking like an angel. He wanted to fall at her feet and worship the very ground she walked on, but he also wanted to hold her close in his arms and never let go. This beautiful, incredible girl was in front of him, and he could not help but wonder how he got so lucky to have her in his life. 

“Can I kiss you?” he asked in a little voice. 

“Yes, you can,” Marinette whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. 

Chat pulled her close by the waist and leaned in. 

As they kissed in the cold air of the balcony, Adrien felt a warmth inside himself that grew with every passing moment. This is what Christmas is about: love. He was home, and he was finally happy. 


End file.
